Jasper at 10 Months Old

I know I just posted Jasper’s nine month photos, but those were a bit late … It is time for his ten month session already, and here it is, actually on time!

At ten months old, Jasper has five teeth, is trying to transition to one nap and driving me crazy with his inconsistencies in sleep, loves to eat (everything!), stands for a few seconds on his own, and “hugs” things he likes by lying down on them. He is so happy, so engaged, so in love with his older brother. The sibling relationship is beyond my wildest expectations; when the boys are playing together and making each other laugh, I cannot take the cuteness. The photos below of them reading together bowl me over.

Happy ten months, Jasper!

A Dinosaur Third Birthday Party

Last weekend, August turned three! As requested, we threw him a dinosaur birthday party. Grammy and Grandpop and Aunt Rachael all flew in for the occasion and we decked the house out in dino-craft ideas Pinterest so nicely provided for me (I can execute a dinosaur balloon, but I cannot dream that up on my own …). You can see my Pinterest inspiration page here; judge for yourself how we did copying it all! Thank you to all the wonderful content creators out there. August loved his party.

At three, Augie is kind, curious, smart. The questions he asks us keep us on our toes!

Here’s the three-year-old and his party:

 

Jasper at Nine Months

My lovely little Jasper is 9 months old. Unbelievable.

This child is so joyful; he is the happiest of happy babies. Even when he gets up too early and starts the day at 5AM, I can’t help but laugh with him as he chuckles at every page of every book we read in his room, trying not to wake anyone else! He adores his older brother and follows him around the house all day, driving a caravan of vehicles and trying to do everything August does. It is literally heartwarming to see their burgeoning sibling relationship.

Jasper had a bad bout of illness right at nine months, so we did these photos in two sessions after the first one was halted due to lack of enthusiasm on everyone’s part. He still looks a little thin to me, his discerning, worrying mother, and he did lose almost a pound while sick! But he’s bounced back and is as cute as ever. I mean, look at this face!

Big brother got into some photos, too, of course … life as the little brother is perfectly captured here. Just sitting, relaxing, while goodness knows what is going on in the background …

Baby D. at Home in Seattle

About a year ago, I got to visit with Baby D. at his lovely home in Seattle. D. and his parents are neighbors of mine; we met because I kept walking past their house and their door was always invitingly open, D. playing happily outside with his mother. We became friends and our kids have had loads of fun together since! Though D. is a whole year older than he appears in these photos, they are still some of my favorites. We took a low-key approach to these portraits, sticking to D.’s parents’ light-filled bedroom and letting him be his adorable baby self.

Family Portraits at the UCLA Botanical Garden

Growing up just a few miles from UCLA, I somehow never visited the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Gardens while I was a kid. I was excited to go there with a friend and her family over a year ago (hey, I’m still catching up with blog posts over here!) for a family session in the California sunshine.

From bamboo forests to native desert plants, this garden has a variety of landscapes to explore and enjoy, and two-year-old C. loved romping through it all in her party dress. Enjoy this smiling family!

Though I’m based in Seattle, I’m in L.A. to visit family all the time, so think of me for photo things down here, too!

2015: A Personal Recap

So, I’ve not been the best at keeping up with blogging (obviously). Motherhood has taken over my life at this point and lots of things have fallen by the wayside. This does not mean I haven’t been taking any pictures, however! I take loads of those, and still have had clients this year that I plan on sharing with you here, but first, a personal recap of 2015 is in order. It was a good year. Brace yourselves for a very long post, and lots of pictures of my (cute) children…

When I left you last, I had Augie, age 21 months. I now have Augie, almost THREE years old AND baby brother Jasper, eight months. How did we get here?

Well, first, 2015 began …

Then, darling Augie turned TWO, and we had an incredible owl-themed birthday party, per his request. Thank goodness for Pinterest and my interest in being crafty, plus my endlessly creative sister visiting for the occasion. It was such fun! Highlights included the owl pineapple, owl pretzels, (non-owl) cakes, owl hanging lanterns, owl balloons and other decorations (we saved toilet paper rolls for months to make some cute little guys), and owl treat bags. And one adorable two-year-old in an owl shirt, of course!

(To my mother’s horror, I got up on the railing while pregnant. It’s only a few feet down!)

This next photo encapsulates how we all feel after a big party, right?

At this point in the year, I was heavily pregnant (as you can see above!). Chronicling pregnancy is one of my favorite photo jobs, and photographing my own pregnancies has been fun and meaningful for me. The lighting models I used each week are seriously cute, too! Here are a few of my favorites from my pregnancy with Jasper (how I wish I’d chosen a long-sleeved shirt for my photo outfit; I was often freezing during these quick shoots!):

My good friend Marcy did a professional photoshoot with me and my little family at Seattle’s Olympic Sculpture Park when I was 37 weeks along. I love having these shots of the three of us, just weeks before our world changed forever.

And then I was 39 weeks and ready to be done with it!

A few days after those last two shots, Jasper was born! My labor was relatively quick and easy (two hours and forty minutes of active labor and eleven minutes of pushing) and I actually thought to myself afterwards, ‘I could do that again!’ What a relief to have it over with, though!

And just like that, we welcomed Jasper into our family. He was born on April 23rd, weighing 7 pounds, 9 ounces at 18 inches long. What a sweet, sweet baby he was and is.

In keeping with my reputation as an incessant record-keeper, I have been doing monthly photos of Jasper. Here he is at one through eight months. His 2015 has been a wonderful progression from lovable little blob of baby to crawling, cruising, smiling, laughing baby! He is an amazing little guy, full of personality and opinions already. Augie has taken to being a big brother well, though of course he occasionally struggles with it. My favorite moments as a mother of two have been when the boys are making each other laugh, just cracking each other up. I see a lifetime of friendship ahead for them and it makes me so happy.

Somewhere in there (well, in his month of August!), August turned two and a half! We were on vacation with my in-laws in Michigan and used the corn and apple fields to our advantage for his pictures:

Whew. Still with me?

This brings us to current day. Wishing you a happy and healthy 2016, full of photographs, from me and mine to you and yours! I promise to do better with blogging this year!

Sneak Peek: Samantha and Patrick

I just spent a wonderful weekend with my family at my cousin’s wedding in Glen Ellen, CA up near Sonoma. Wine country! And I was proud to be there not just as a cousin, but also as the photographer! Here are a few photos to tide everyone over while I work on the rest … and they are worth waiting for!

Love you Sam and Patrick!

Family fall fun, and Augie at (almost) 21 months

Can we all agree that fall, and Halloween, are the best? This fall we had a ton of fun with Augie, now almost 21 months, at Craven Farm, picking out pumpkins, playing on trucks and tractors, visiting animals, and enjoying the weather. His BFF Logan makes an appearance in these photos, too – Logan and his family are moving just a few blocks away from us and I am so excited that these boys will be growing up together!

At 21 months, Augie talks up a storm. His comprehension and vocabulary astound me! His loves remain trucks (really, anything with wheels), books, balls, and stuffed animals. He loves his music class and a kids gymnastics class, but is equally happy driving cars around our house.

For Halloween, my sister made him an owl costume. It is the most beautiful thing ever and August was adorable in it. He spent the whole day saying, “Whoo whooooo,” “trick-or-treat,” “happy Halloween,” and “búho costume!” (Búho is Spanish for owl.) Halloween also gave us the opportunity to sport a family costume with Tyler as the tree, me as the nest, and Augs as our little búho – and we have a little family announcement to make, as well, about what’s in momma owl’s nest these days … scroll to the bottom of the post to find out!

Seattle Family Photos – Bennett at 18 Months

As a family photographer, I get a lot of questions from clients about where their photo shoots should take place. While a super-picturesque location can provide an amazing backdrop, sometimes the best place for photos can be found while simply strolling around your own neighborhood. For Bennett’s 18 month and fall family photos, we stuck close to home, walking around Seattle’s Capitol Hill, and ended up in his very own living room. The results are fantastic! Happy 18 months, Bennett. You are a lover of leaves and apples, books and blocks, and your “surprise” face is absolutely adorable!

August – 18 Months

I took Augie’s 18 month photos while we vacationed on the Olympic Peninsula. He loved the beach, the woods and “hiking” (i.e. walking on a little path to a clearing), and blueberry picking. There must be an innate foraging instinct within us; Augs was a natural in the blueberry fields and ate more than he put in our bucket. At a year and a half, his great love is being outdoors, matched only by reading books. His language is incredible – he says hundreds of words and phrases and can follow instructions to the letter (though he doesn’t always choose to!). And … his hair has gotten curly! Here he is!